Rawtenstall Balladen Community Primary School

Rawtenstall Balladen Community Primary School has high aspirations for pupils and a caring, supportive ethos, with personal development judged good and safeguarding effective. Pupils benefit from a strong focus on wider development, including pupil voice, play leader and mental health champion roles, and they are generally polite and respectful around school. Reading has been raised as a priority and the phonics programme is delivered well, with early reading beginning to benefit. However, the school still has important weaknesses. Pupils' achievement remains low in some subjects, including English and mathematics, and gaps in knowledge are not always identified or addressed, making learning harder for some pupils, including some with SEND. Behaviour in lessons is variable, the agreed behaviour policy is not applied consistently, and support for pupils who struggle to manage emotions is not consistently effective. The early years curriculum is at an earlier stage, and some children are not well prepared for Year 1. Recent staffing changes and high pupil absence have slowed progress, and many curriculum leaders are new to their roles.

Strengths

• High aspirations for all pupils and a caring ethos.
• Personal development is a high priority and a clear strength.
• Pupils take on meaningful roles such as school parliament, play leaders and mental health champions.
• Pupils are polite, respectful and get on well at social times.
• Attendance has improved for most pupils.
• Incidents of poor behaviour disturbing learning or breaktimes have become less frequent.
• The governing body provides effective challenge and support.
• Reading has been raised as a priority and pupils enjoy high-quality texts.
• The phonics programme is well delivered, and early reading knowledge is developing securely.
• Safeguarding arrangements are effective.
• Pupils learn about safe and healthy lifestyles, including online safety and physical activity.

Areas for Improvement

• Achievement remains low in some subjects, including English and mathematics.
• Gaps in pupils' knowledge are not identified and addressed well enough.
• Some pupils struggle to read with fluency or accuracy, which hinders access to the wider curriculum.
• Behaviour during lessons is variable and the agreed behaviour policy is not implemented consistently.
• Staff do not always provide quick or effective support for pupils who struggle to manage their emotions.
• Some early years children are not developing focus and independence quickly enough for Year 1.
• Early years curriculum expectations are not defined clearly enough in some areas of learning.
• Many curriculum leaders are new and do not yet understand progression well, particularly in early years.
• Achievement of pupils with SEND is variable.
• Staffing changes have hindered implementation of improvement plans.
• High rates of pupil absence have affected learning and recall.

Admissions: local authority offers data from the Department for Education. A school is oversubscribed when at least 5% of the families who put it first were not offered a place, and undersubscribed when everyone who put it first got in but 10% or more of its places were unfilled in the Department's school capacity survey (the latest survey is used for entry years it does not cover). Places: Department for Education, School capacity, from local authorities' annual survey as at 1 May. Each year is the one the school year ends in (2025 is 2024–25); the survey was not run in 2020. Places include sixth form places. Forecasts are the local authority's own for the school's planning area, an area it uses to plan places that is not the school's catchment area. The forecast starts from a head count in 2025; the dashed line is the Department's estimate of places in that area, including those the authority has firm plans for. Planned places are cumulative, and only those with firm plans are counted.

In 2024–25 pupils at Rawtenstall Balladen Community Primary School attended 92.4% of sessions (the national figure for primary schools was 94.8%). 17.6% of pupils were persistently absent, missing at least one session in ten (nationally 13.0%).

Sessions missed

Pupils persistently absent

Source: Department for Education, Pupil absence in schools in England. Each year is the one the school year ends in (2025 is 2024/25). Persistent absence means missing 10% or more of sessions; severe absence means 50% or more. No figures were published for 2019/20.

In 2024–25, 2.5% of pupils at Rawtenstall Balladen Community Primary School were suspended at least once (nationally 1.1%). 2 pupils were permanently excluded.

Pupils suspended at least once

Source: Department for Education, Suspensions and permanent exclusions in England. Each year is the one the school year ends in (2025 is 2024/25). A pupil can be suspended more than once, so suspensions per 100 pupils can be higher than the share of pupils suspended. Very small numbers are hidden by the DfE. Exclusion figures dropped in 2020 and 2021 because of school closures.

In 2025–26 Rawtenstall Balladen Community Primary School had 15.6 pupils for each teacher (the national figure for primary schools was 20.7). Of its teachers in 2024–25, 37.5% were no longer at the school a year later (nationally 15.7%).

Pupils per teacher

Teachers who left the school within a year

Source: Department for Education, School workforce in England. Each year is the one the school year ends in (2025 is 2024/25). Pupils per teacher counts full-time-equivalent pupils and teachers. Turnover is the share of a year's teachers (full-time equivalent) who were not at the school the following year, whether they moved to another school or left state-funded teaching. Turnover and sickness figures run one year behind the ratios. Sick leave is the share of teachers who took at least one day in the year, so it swings widely at small schools, where a few teachers can make it 0% or 100%. The national figures are for all state schools of the same type.

In 2025–26, 14.7% of pupils at Rawtenstall Balladen Community Primary School were on SEN support (nationally 15.4%) and 2.8% had an education, health and care (EHC) plan (nationally 4.1%).

Pupils by main type of need

Source: Department for Education, Special educational needs in England (the 2025–26 school census). SEN support is extra help in school without an EHC plan. National figures are for all state-funded primary schools. Counts are as published, with small numbers not hidden.

In 2025–26 Rawtenstall Balladen Community Primary School received £10,278 and spent £10,827 for each of its 109 pupils. It ended the year with reserves of £48,000 (£445 per pupil).

Income per pupil

Spending per pupil

Source: Department for Education, Financial Benchmarking and Insights Tool. Each year is the one the financial year ends in (2024 is 2023–24).

• Primary Schools
• Secondary Schools

All schools in Rossendale · Lancashire local authority: places and applications

What is Rawtenstall Balladen Community Primary School's Ofsted rating?

The latest Ofsted rating for Rawtenstall Balladen Community Primary School is Requires Improvement, from an inspection in November 2024.

When was Rawtenstall Balladen Community Primary School last inspected by Ofsted?

Rawtenstall Balladen Community Primary School was last inspected in November 2024.

How many pupils does Rawtenstall Balladen Community Primary School have?

Rawtenstall Balladen Community Primary School has 109 pupils on roll.

What age range does Rawtenstall Balladen Community Primary School cover?

Rawtenstall Balladen Community Primary School for pupils aged 4 to 11.

What are Rawtenstall Balladen Community Primary School's SATs (KS2) results?

In 2025, 32% of Year 6 pupils met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths.

Where is Rawtenstall Balladen Community Primary School?

Rawtenstall Balladen Community Primary School is at Linden Lea, Rawtenstall, Rossendale, Lancashire, BB4 6DX.